From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

Start date: June 1, 2022

Finish date: June 30, 2022

Discussion: CLASSICS READS

Why we're reading this: June 2022 - Classics Selection
[close] June 2022 - Classics Selection

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 216 topics — 6,516 comments total

CLASSICS READS

James and the Giant Peach - *SPOILERS*
By spoko · 13 posts · 50 views

last updated Aug 28, 2025 06:59PM

James and the Giant Peach - SPOILER-FREE
By Renata · 7 posts · 55 views

last updated Aug 13, 2025 03:25AM

showing 10 of 26 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Dec 30, 2019 Rianto Dermawan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

A bank or a company, is creature don't breath air, don't eat. They breath profit, eat interest on money, all the time it can't wait. If they don't get it, they die the way you die without air.

It was 1930's, a year when the economic depression hit America. Crop failure in a land of Oklahoma, a families could not pay off bank loans, land was confiscated. They went to western United States, to seek job for better life in land of grapes, oranges plantation of California.
John Steinbeck tell the A bank or a company, is creature don't breath air, don't eat. They breath profit, eat interest on money, all the time it can't wait. If they don't get it, they die the way you die without air.

It was 1930's, a year when the economic depression hit America. Crop failure in a land of Oklahoma, a families could not pay off bank loans, land was confiscated. They went to western United States, to seek job for better life in land of grapes, oranges plantation of California.
John Steinbeck tell the story in an atmosphere of poverty in very detailed scene by scene in the character of Tom, ma, pa, brothers, sisters, grandpa, grandma, and a former preacher included, migrate from home toward western state using modified old truck carrying all with pain, adversity but in good faith, along the road route of 66 . The great highway streamed with thousands poor people going westward.

His writing show the ideas of socialism rather than capitalism, more leftist if we wouldn't label him communist which become enemy, as devil in political ideology of United States of America. He concerned about the land where people belong, being born, farming, make a living but they uprooted by the owner of capitalism. About the strike taken to stop the great owners, and die for a concept. The quality of foundation of 'Manself' , distinctive in universe.
'.. nobody been able to make a crop for years. But the son of bitches at their desk, they just chopped folks for their margin of profit.'

Steinbeck gave bigger role to women in his story, when ma' lead the family to fight against injustice, unfairness, to face the sickness of old parents, feed the hunger family, to challenge the doubt, to keep alive of dream by her patience, submission, and determination.
"It ain't kin we ? It's will we ?", she said firmly. "As far as 'kin', we can't do nothin, not go to California or nothin; but as far as 'will', we will do what we will."

Nine decades after his books published, the world still have same story, but now is not fiction novel, it is real story happened, about hungry people from South America, North Africa, Middle East migrating to seek the promising place, the dreamland for their better life, fleeing from war. It is also about how women having more power and elected by the people as head of state, national leader in some countries in the world.
All this issues has been John Steinbeck's major theme in making the story of his novels. The principle of life which attained him for Nobel Prize award in literature in year 1962, and other awards for his works.

When theories changes and crash. When schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic grow and disintegrate. Man reaches, stumbles forward painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slipped back, but only half a step, never full a step back. . ...more

3 likes · Like · see review